By JEANETTE JOHANNSON
November 21, 2006

The wrestling team here at the Abbey might be one of the toughest teams on campus. It is a sport where politics and coaches’ favorites have no significance, where a bench player can challenge the starter in his weight class at any time, and where there is a constant struggle being waged between players and the weight scale. I recently sat down with Coach Kenn Caudell to discuss this year’s squad and the upcoming season.

Last year -- the first season for coach Caudell and the wrestling program -- was a tough one. The team started out with 17 players, but ended up with just 7. Coach Caudell’s only comment on that topic was simple, but direct: “Wrestling has a very high turnover rate. Kids quit a lot. It is not uncommon since it is so difficult -- training on a very high level.”

Many might be surprised to find out that wrestling is not only growing in the south, it is one of the top two or three most popular sports at the high school level. Even so, the CVAC (BAC’s conference for other sports) does not have enough schools sponsoring wrestling for it to be considered a conference sport. Therefore, BAC’s wrestling team is not currently affiliated with a particular conference.

“We compete independently so there are no conference champions, and we qualify to the national tournament through our regional. You qualify individually and not as a team,” says Caudell.

There are ten weight classes: up to 125 lbs., 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197, and 183-285 lbs. (heavyweight). Regarding the issue of keeping weight, head coach Kenn Caudell replies that “losing weight is such a personal battle since no one can do it for you, but gaining weight is difficult. There are very few wrestlers who do not have to lose any weight at all. Most guys lose ten to twenty pounds over a period of time. We [the Abbey’s players] try to lose primarily body fat and as [undergo] little dehydration as possible.”

The issue is a serious one, as Caudell himself is well aware. “Three people died [when] I wrestled in college when trying to cut weight . . . . [One has to ensure that when] we have guys that do it, it is done in a safe manner and is closely regulated.”

Coach Caudell himself wrestled at Slippery Rock University, a Division I school in southeastern Pennsylvannia. When asked how he was, he modestly replied “I was pretty good, I guess.” After college, coach he began coaching at Mount Union College in Ohio, a Div. III school. “The largest difference between a DII school and a DIII school is numbers. DII has about 60 schools that compete in wrestling, while DII has about 100 schools.”

When asked about expectations for the BAC program, coach Caudell says “Right now, we have 21 wrestlers currently and will be starting 6 freshman this year. All of them are really good. In two or three years, we will be very good team. We have a goal right now of probably four to five kids going on to regionals. Realistically we should get three or four, but potentially five if no injury.”

If Coach Caudell was modest about himself he is not so when he speaks about his players. “The kids are tough,” he says without a glimmer of humor. Yeah, perhaps the toughest team on campus, and time will tell if they will be a successful one as well.

Getting to know Coach Caudell . . .